Tuesday, February 16, 2010

On Sunday, February 14th, Hillary Clinton was wheels down in Doha, Qatar to begin a three-day visit to the area for talks aimed at gathering Arab support for countering Iran's disputed nuclear program and to bring to light the Arab-Israeli peace process.

On her schedule for the first day she was in a series of high-level meetings before addressing an annual US-Islamic World Forum. These meetings included a bilateral with with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan as well as meetings with the staff and families from the Embassy in Doha.

Her speech focused on winning backing for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, which basically have been frozen for more than a year. The Obama administration has made little headway in efforts to restart the talks, with the Palestinians refusing to sit down until Israel halts all settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

In her remarks she said the Obama administration's efforts in the region have often been "obscured by suspicion and misunderstanding".

It is time, as President Obama said in his speech in Cairo, for a new beginning based on a commitment to open dialogue and equal partnership. A new beginning that confronts the tensions between us and commits all of us to doing the hard work necessary to resolve them... Building a stronger relationship cannot happen overnight. It takes patience, persistence and hard work from all of us... We are and will remain committed to the president's vision for a new beginning.